1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, such as a lithographic apparatus or an inspection apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor industry, an ever increasing desire exists to manufacture smaller structures with high accuracy and reliability. In lithography systems this desire results in extremely high demands with respect to positioning and orientation. External vibrations caused by other machines in a fab environment and/or electrical circuitry may have a negative influence on the positioning accuracy within the lithographic apparatus. Similarly, vibrations within a lithographic apparatus, for example caused by stage movement, may have a negative influence on such accuracy.
Reduction of vibrations may be realized by isolating the source and the components used to manipulate the radiation, i.e. a radiation projection system or “column”, from the environment. Similarly, the substrate to be processed, in combination with the support structure on which the substrate is placed, may be vibrationally decoupled from the stage. Vibration decoupling may be achieved using bearings, spring elements and/or other components. The precise selection and placement of such components depends on the design at hand.
The reduction of feature sizes in combination with the desire to maintain the present day throughput in semiconductor processing, often results in an increased heat load for both the substrate support structure and components within the radiation projection system of the semiconductor processing apparatus. In some cases, active cooling by means of a cooling fluid running through one or more conduits, is desirable to obtain sufficient cooling. Unfortunately, the use of cooling conduits largely undoes the vibration decoupling of the element being cooled.